The Knicks are giving Bruce Brown and James Wiseman a shot to stick.
New York has agreed to training camp deals with both former Indiana Pacers, putting each in the mix for a regular-season roster spot with the defending champions. Brown’s deal is a training camp invitation with injury protection, so nothing is locked in yet. Wiseman’s agreement is an Exhibit 9 Contract, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
For Pacers fans, the names are familiar for very different reasons.
Wiseman’s stint in Indiana was brief and a little unusual. The Pacers brought him back on Dec. 20 with a 10-day hardship exception, he played in three more games, and then he was released on Dec.
- He was well liked in the locker room, but the fit on the floor never quite clicked.
Indiana then moved in another direction at center, signing Micah Potter to a standard non-guaranteed contract on Dec. 26.
To make room, the Pacers waived Garrison Mathews and also let Wiseman go from his hardship contract.
Brown’s path through Indiana was much more eventful.
He was the Pacers’ biggest addition of the 2023 offseason, signing a two-year, $45 million deal after his championship run with Denver. His time in Indiana lasted only half a season, but he still became part of a major franchise move. Brown was included in the January 2024 blockbuster trade with Toronto that brought Pascal Siakam to Indiana.
From there, Brown’s route kept moving. He went from Toronto to New Orleans in the Brandon Ingram trade before eventually returning to Denver.
Now he’s back in the market, and New York is one of the places giving him a chance to earn a role. The Knicks have two open roster spots, and Brown will be in camp alongside John Konchar, Drew Eubanks and others competing for one of the final regular-season spots.
Wiseman, meanwhile, gets yet another opportunity to restart his career. Indiana gave him multiple chances to carve out a place, but he never settled into a permanent role.
Both players once came to Indiana with different levels of expectation. Both are now trying to win jobs with one of the Pacers’ biggest Eastern Conference rivals.
In Other News...
Knicks Just Set Up A Sneaky Camp Battle For One Roster Spot
The Knicks kept their offseason roster churn rolling by adding another veteran big man in Drew Eubanks on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract and bringing in Liam Robbins on an Exhibit 10 deal. The flurry did not stop there, either, as the team also signed six more players - Jaden Akins, Nick Jourdain, Mitch Mascari, Toby Okani, Igor Milicic and Paul Zilinskas - to Exhibit 10 contracts before waiving them, a familiar mechanism that can still help direct talent toward Westchester and create a little extra organizational depth.
For New York, the real interest is less about the paperwork than the camp competition it sets up on the back end of the roster. Eubanks gives the Knicks another experienced frontcourt name to evaluate, while Robbins joins the mix as a developmental big who could stick around the system in some form, and the group of waived signees now has a path to work with Westchester and chase bonus money along the way. It is the kind of late-summer roster maneuvering that often looks routine on the surface but can determine which prospects stay in the building when camp gets serious. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Still Have One Roster Decision Nets Fans Will Notice
The Knicks have been busy filling out the margins of their roster, reaching contract agreements with John Konchar and Drew Eubanks while keeping a few more veteran options on the board as training camp approaches. The front office is also working through its two-way picture, with Tyler Nickel widely expected to take one of the open slots and Kevin McCullar Jr. still in the mix as New York looks to round out a preseason group that already has a handful of moving parts.
Gabe Vincent is among the names the Knicks remain in touch with, and the same goes for a couple of big men who could add depth if the fit and timing line up. For a team that has spent much of the offseason fine-tuning the edges of the roster, the next decision or two could matter more than usual, especially with the Nets making their own headline-grabbing additions across town and the New York rivalry carrying its usual extra weight. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Just Put Their Final Frontcourt Spot In Play
The Knicks are still sorting out the back end of their frontcourt, and Drew Eubanks is now in the mix. New York brought in the veteran center on a non-guaranteed contract, giving him a chance to win a roster spot in training camp while the team continues to shore up depth behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond.
With room for one more veteran minimum deal, the Knicks appear to have a clear opening for a third center if Eubanks can hold up his end of the competition. He brings NBA experience from multiple stops, and for a club trying to cover itself across a long season, that kind of low-cost insurance can matter more than it looks on paper. [Read more 🡒]